Sectional scaffold frame brace locks



Aug. 30, 1955 N. NORDONE 2,716,576

SECTIONAL SCAFFOLD FRAME BRACE LOCKS Filed June 16, 1954 1 I a .3 l 0 fjg I N INVENTOR Mrfio/amA mv/one hi1 ATTORNEY United States Patent OSECTIONAL SCAFFOLD FRAME BRACE LOCKS Nicholas Nordone, Miami Shores,Fla., assignor to The Patent Scaffolding Co., Inc., Long Island City, N.Y., a corporation of New York Application June 16,1954, Serial No.437,101

2 Claims. (Cl. 304-40) This invention relates to sectional scaffoldframe brace locks, and more particularly to a lock having a memberslidable along the upright of a scaffold to securely lock one or morebraces by its own gravity, or to conveniently release the same by simplysliding it upwardly along the periphery of the upright.

The invention provides a substantially automatic lock which may bereadily applied and easily unlocked to remove one or more braces from astud in the scaffold upright.

My novel brace lock consists of a guide member permitting verticalreciprocating movement only of the locking device which has a forkedportion to surround the stud carrying the brace or braces on a scaffoldupright, and a nut to hold the guide member and the locking device onthe stud.

Some preferred embodiments of my invention and its many features andadvantages will be further described in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, and the invention will be finally pointed out in the appendedclaims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a scaffold upright with the novel brace lock ofmy invention partly broken away;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the brace lock;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the lock before the braces have beensuspended on the stud;

Fig. 4 is a top view of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to that shown in Fig. 2, with two diagonalbraces shown in dotted lines supported by the stud and locked by mynovel brace lock;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 6-6 in Fig. 1, as viewed in thedirection of arrows;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the guide member for the slidable lock;and

Fig. 8 is a view, partly in section, of a shouldered nut I replacing theguide member shown in Fig. 7.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe various views illustrated in the drawing.

Referring now in more detail to the illustrated embodiments and moreparticularly to Fig. 1, there is shown a tubular upright 10 of asectional scaffold having welded or otherwise securely attached theretoa threaded bolt or stud 11. Braces 12, 13 are shown in dotted lines onbolt 11. A U-shaped guide member 14 having an opening 15 in its base 16for the passage of bolt 11 is held against the upright 10 by a nut 17.The concavities 18 and 18a in the two legs 19, 20 of the U-shaped member14 have a curvature such as to adhere to the periphery of upright 10,and when nut 17 is drawn tight, the vertical sides 21, 22 of member 14guide the corresponding walls of locking member 23 for verticallyreciprocating movement along the upright 10.

Lock 23 is best shown in Fig. 3 wherein it may be seen that it consistsof a frame-like portion having sides 24, 25, 26, 27 and a forked portionhaving two legs 28, 29

2,716,576 Patented Aug. 30, 1955 surrounding a vertical slot 30 for stud11. Walls 24 and 25 are concave with a curvature corresponding to thatof the periphery of upright 10 and the whole frame-like portion of lock23 is held against upright 10 by nut 17. U- shaped member 14 permitsvertically reciprocating movement of lock 23 only. Lock 23 furthercomprises one or two inverted step like cutouts 31, 32 wherein thebraces 12, 13 may fit when such braces are suspended on stem 11.

As seen in Fig. 2, the lifting of lock 23 permits the suspension of thebraces on bolt or stem 11, and when lock 23 is released, it slides alongsides 21, 22 of guide member 14 by its own gravity to lock the structureand to prevent removal of any brace until the lock is actually lifted bythe operator back into the position shown in Fig. 2. When locked, theinner brace 12 is not actually en-, gaged by the wall of cutout 31, butbrace 13 is firmly held by the wall of cutout 32 and thus also preventsbrace 12 from any movement except pivoting around bolt 11. When only onebrace is held by stem 11, lock 23 slides down farther and the wall ofcutout 31 comes into con tact therewith to prevent it from sliding offthe bolt 11.

The slot 30 is so proportioned that it will permit the downward movementof lock 23 sufficiently to permit firm engagement of brace 12 by cutout31 or the engagement of the outer brace 13 by cutout 32.

In Fig. 8, a special nut 33 is shown which is a substitute for nut 17and the U-shaped member 14 at the same time. As shown, nut 33 has anannular shoulder 34 with a diameter substantially equal but somewhatless than the distance between sides 26 and 27 in lock 23. When nut 33is drawn tight on theraded bolt 11, walls 26, 27 slide along shoulder 34while the hexagonal cap of nut 33 retains the lock 23 against upright10. Nut 33 and shoulder 34 may also be two separate pieces.

The width of lock 23 is preferably somewhat less than the diameter ofupright 10 so that it may not interfere with handling and stackingoperations. The bottom of lock 23, which is preferably cast of a propermalleable steel, may be thickened to provide more weight for betterbalance of the lock. It may also be necessary to increase the dimensionsof the walls having cutouts 31 and 32 for greater durability of thelocking device.

The operation of my brace lock is as follows:

As seen in Fig. 2, the locking member 23 is lifted sufficiently topermit the suspension of braces 12, 13 on stud 11. When lock 23 isreleased, it slides along sides 21, 22 of U-member 14 or along theshoulder 34 of nut 33 until the upper wall of cutout 32 contacts theouter brace 13 and the whole structure is locked automatically. If onlyone brace is to be locked, then the upper wall of cutout 31 comes intocontact with brace 12 and the wholestructure remains locked until member23 is again sutficiently lifted to permit removal of the brace from stud11.

The locking device of my invention has many advantages over theconventional brace locks in that it may be easily installed without anyspecial tools or welding equipment. It is reliable, will lastpractically indefinitely and Will more firmly hold the brace or braceson a stem than any other device except a Wing nut.

While it is believed that the above description of my invention issufliciently to enable a person skilled in the art to practice the same,I wish it to be understood that various changes and modifications may bemade within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In an automatic lock for detachably securing one or more braces tothe upright of a sectional scaffold, in combination: a threaded stemanchored in the upright at one end thereof, a guide member on said stemadjacent the upright, said guide member having two vertical wallsparallel with the axis of the upright, a nut on said stem for retainingsaid guide member against the upright, and a brace locking member havinga frame mounted for vertically reciprocating movement along saidvertical walls of said guide member with said nut extending over thelateral portions of said frame for retaining the same on said guidemember and adjacent the upright, said brace locking member furtherincluding a forked portion spaced from said frame and integral therewithat the upper extremity thereof, said forked portion having an open slotin the lower extremity thereof for reception of the other end of saidstem on downward movement of said brace locking member by gravitythereof, said brace locking member having at least one inverted steplike cutout between said frame and said forked portion thereof forreception of one or more braces supported by said stem between said nutand said forked portion of said brace locking member, said frame beingof a length in excess of the length of said guide member whereby toexpose said other end of said stem on upward movement thereof'toe getherwith said forked portion to permit insertion of one or more braces ontosaid stem or removal of braces therefrom.

2. In an automatic brace lock for detachably securing one or more bracesto the upright of a sectional scaffold, in combiantion: a threaded stemanchored in the upright at one 'end thereof, a brace locking memberhaving a frame with a closed slot laterally limited by two verticalwalls, said frame having a wall adjacent to and of a contourcorresponding to the peripheral contour of the upright, said bracelocking member further including a forked portion spaced from said frameand integral therewith at the upper extremity thereof, said forkedportion having an open slot in the lower extremity thereof for receptionof the other end of said stem on downward movement of said brace lockingmember by gravity thereof, said brace locking member having at least oneinverted step like cutout between said frame and said forked portion forreception of one or more braces therein, said closed slot in said framebeing of a length suflicient to expose said other end of said stem onupward movement of said brace locking member, and a nut on said stemhaving a sleeve fitting into said closed slot in said frame andextending over said vertical walls for slidably retaining said frameagainst said upright, whereby said brace locking member automaticallylocks by gravity one or more braces supported by said stem between saidnut and said forked portion, said braces being removable on upwardmovement of said brace locking member along the upright exposing saidother end of said stern.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,058,608 Lightly Apr. 8, 1913 2,635,717 Albrecht et al Apr. 21, 19532,686,086 French Aug. 10, 1954

